The CSI stick: phones to grass you up

Thumb-sized phone-copying device developed for street police

A thumb-sized drive to gather data from mobile phones has been unveiled by Paraben Corporation in the US, the Cell Seizure Investigator Stick (CSI Stick).

It allows street patrol level officers to capture data from mobile phones, presumably used in crimes or present at the scene, using a one button procedure.

Apparently police officers will be able “to view media quickly and at the same time the stick maintains a forensic image for full exam by forensic lab personnel,” according to Jay Poupard of the Michigan State Police.

Unprotected texts

It seems a little intrusive to be able to capture all the data off the phone, or even things like SMS messages, phonebooks and call logs, or multimedia messages. Admittedly it can be crucial as evidence, but strict guidelines will have to be put in place to ensure privacy is protected.

The CSI Stick supports 330 models of Motorola and Samsung phones, with adaptors for other manufacturers released later in 2008.